Priser på linser

Can one really tell the difference between a $150 lens and a $15 000 Ultra Prime one? One would think so, but it might not be as easy as it seems. RocketJump Film School put together a fantastic video showing a test of that very question, using a variety of lenses ranging in price from $150 to $15 000 and employing a blind test consisting of real world footage. One thing that makes the test stand out from other similar tests is the absence of focus charts, and the use of actual, real life footage.

Affärsmodell för VFX

This year’s FMX conference saw an thought provoking panel discussing the future business models of the VFX industry, hosted by Weta Digital’s Dave Gougé and including Warner Bros. Studios’ Chris deFaria, Method Studios’ Marc Weigert and founder of DD and industry expert Scott Ross. The panel discussed a number of topics, but had especially interesting viewpoints when it came to business models.

Among other things, the panel discussed the rather new phenomenon of viewing certain VFX work as a general commodity with less need of talent, allowing it to be farmed out while keeping more specialised talent ready for the more high-end work within the same project. Chris deFaria was skeptical of this approach, arguing that for a VFX house to be profitable while solving the complex projects they generally also need the more mundane, lower grade jobs as well.

The panel also discussed the need for seeing VFX workers more like “talent”, with a studio treating them no different from how they treat actors and key creative workers. In general, a film can ride almost entirely on using a star actor, director or even executive producer, but VFX crew still aren’t well known enough to carry a film. It was argued that while films such as Gravity heavily marketed the breakthrough effects, it wasn’t the VFX team itself that helped in marketing.

Did you miss FMX in Stuttgart? Make sure to check out FXGuide report from it.

Nya regissörer

It has been 25 years since Saatchi & Saatchi inaugurated the New Directors’ Showcase in 1991, and they are now planning to celebrate the anniversary as one of Cannes Lions’ most anticipated events, as they are looking back at some of the famous directors of the past.

The 25th anniversary event will showcase the result of inviting 25 NDS alumni directors back for an experimental film, set to be premiered in Cannes just prior to 2015’s reel. Building excitement for the event, Saatchi & Saatchi are now revealing the participating directors one by one in an advent calendar style showcase on their website.

“For the past decade I’ve been part of the team of Saatchi & Saatchi’s creative leaders”, said Andy Gulliman, curator of the NDS and Saatchi & Saatchi’s worldwide director of film and content. “This group selects the annual NDS Showreel, and I have curated the Showreel for the past two years. Reflecting upon the wealth of directing talent in an archive that goes back to 1991, it’s an amazing visual library with contributions from directors such as Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Dawn Shadforth, Jake Scott, Daniel Wolfe and Ivan Zacharias, who now are firmly enlisted in the directing hall of fame. Their directorial styles were an influence then, and continue to be an influence now. With the NDS 25 year anniversary, we would like to celebrate the rich archive and say a big thank you to all the directors who helped to make the event a must on the Cannes Lions calendar.”

Konsten att frama

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ is absurdly fast, but thanks to clever framing it still keeps the viewers oriented. The film uses extremely fast cutting, with an average of 2.66 seconds per shot, an average which is even shorter in the faster sections, such as the 45 minute chase scene. A new video now shows excerpts of the film overlaid with audio commentary from cinematographer John Seale ACS, displaying the technical cleverness which makes the viewer remain oriented throughout the two hour film. In short, it’s all about centering the important information in the same place, allowing the viewer to keep concentrating on pretty much the same place on the screen throughout the cuts

DD = IM360

Academy Award winning production studio Digital Domain has joined forces with Immersive Media to create IM360, a new joint venture with the goal of creating cutting edge interactive experiences.

Digital Domain is best known for their in Hollywood blockbusters such as Iron Man 3, Transformers, and Titanic, while Immersive Media has made themselves known for creating video experiences for companies such as Disney and ABC. The companies’ new partnership IM360 now aims to “change the landscape of visual content creation”.

“New visual experiences are exploding across the world, impacting advertising, television, film and gaming, and Immersive Media have been at the forefront for years,” said Daniel Seah of Digital Domain. “To drive the content revolution, it’s crucial for us and our partners to be ahead of the curve. Immersive Media shares our vision of innovation, and this joint venture allows us to combine our unique complementary strengths.”

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the talented people at Digital Domain,” said Myles McGovern of Immersive Media. “It’s an exciting time for virtual reality and Immersive’s IP is essential in the growing VR space. The combination of these innovative companies will make immediate impact on the rapidly changing world of VR entertainment.”

Resolve blir NLE

DaVince Resolve has steadily grown from a colour correction tool, and has now with its latest version received full NLE status. The past two versions have not been touted as much like a replacement NLE as they have been seen as a complimentary tool, allowing small editorial changes and exporting. Starting with version 12, the DaVince Resolve software is now seen as a full featured editing platform for any part of the editing process. The new version is set for a public release in July, available both for free as a limited version and as a full version for $995.

Ta bort tråkiga annonser

“The Ad Filter”, a new browser extension from D&AD, allows the user to replace boring ads with more interesting ones. The Ad Filter, available for Chrome and Firefox, simply blocks regular ads from your browser, and instead inserts D&AD winners, making the user get a new appreciation for quality advertisement. The browser extension was created by BETC Paris for D&AD with the purpose of “celebrating creativity by inspiring and stimulating people in the industry and beyond”.

Made in Under an Hour

In a stunt to inspire people to make the most of their lunch break, BBH London and KFC produced, shot and cut a music video in just 57 minutes. The music video was for UK rap artist Chip’s latest single “Feeling Myself”, featuring Kano and Wretch 32. The video was shot in a multi story London car park using a single drone camera. The four minute film was captured in just 50 minutes, leaving seven minutes for editing – 57 minutes in total for a process that usually takes weeks or more.

“With everything I do I work hard and try my best to bring unique creativity and great energy”, rapper Chip said. ”KFC’s collaboration with my company Cash Motto has all that to bring a vibrant visual. We’ve filmed, produced and edited my entire video for Feeling Myself in an hour to show our fans how much can be packed into 60 minutes. An hour is the time most people are given for lunch each day right? We wanted to show what an hour can offer when you seize the opportunity to do something creative.”

The video is part of KFC’s ”Pack More into Lunch” campaign which aims to open KFC for new audiences. It was directed by That Go and produced by Rachel Rumbold of production company Friend.

”This campaign was a great opportunity to expand upon the existing ‘Pack more into Lunch’ platform and open KFC up to new target audience”, said BBH creative director Hamish Pinell. ”Creating a music video in a lunchtime was an exciting challenge. Not only did we pull it off, we also set a new world record.”

New UtopiaBook

Creative online recruiting platform UtopiaBook, a web application run by former talent agents UtopiaPeople, has announced their new pricing plan for members. The new changes reflect a 1000% price reduction and are accompanied by a brand new design and exciting new functions—as well as a new free account for hiring companies to try out their service for free. UtopiaBook is a world leading freelance recruiting platform in the creative and motion media industry and is now expanding into the advertising and gaming industries as well.

“We’re really excited by our new expansion because it’s going to allow us to offer even more unique features for our members,” says Stefan Strom, founder of UtopiaBook. “Our focus has always been connecting talent and companies within the VFX, film and TV industry and now we have the chance to cater to a whole new group of professionals.” According to Mr. Strom, UtopiaBook is a premiere web-application that helps VFX studios, TV channels, agencies and other creative organizations to quickly crew up productions and projects.

UtopiaBook gives professionals full access to thousands of talented freelancers from around the world and allows organizations the opportunity to post both freelance and permanent positions. Freelancers can also browse jobs and connect with other professionals in their industry to advance their careers.UtopiaBook is also announcing the launch of their unique press release widget that allows company members to send out press releases to over 500 selected magazines, blogs and news sites in the creative industry to help boost awareness about their work and presence.

“Today we are seeing a huge shift in the creative industry,” says Stefan Strom. “More and more people—especially younger generations—are choosing freelance work as opposed to full-time positions. They like the freedom to choose when and where they work. Also a lot of companies need to quickly reshape their workforce and using freelancers is of course a way to deal with this,” says Mr. Strong. “We are also seeing a shift of roles in the creative industry, because now you can have companies that offer both advertising and digital services (web) as well as video and film production along with postproduction. Some are even offering game production for all platforms. This is something we will definitely see grow in the future.”

Already the world’s largest database of motion creative professionals, recent studies have found UtopiaBook to be up to 400% more effective than traditional job-boards and social media solutions such as Facebook and LinkedIn, where people have traditionally posted their openings.

“We’ve adjusted our pricing so that everyone has the opportunity to take advantage of our incredible features at UtopiaBook.” Mr. Strom says. “It doesn’t matter if you are a small creative shop or a larger agency, we have solutions for all sizes—no matter where in the world you are located. Working with freelance talent minimizes the financial risks for our clients and finding top-notch talent within minutes is a real breeze using our system. We are also seeing that working remotely with talented and trusted freelancers is becoming more common with many projects. If you can book your flights and hotels on the Internet, you should be able to find great team workers there as well.”

UtopiaBook is now offering a new lower price at 99€ per month with no long-term contracts, allowing members to cancel their membership at any time. The new pricing model is effective as of May 20.

“This new change allows us to offer our membership to a wider range of customers and even allows us to offer a free option for smaller organizations.” Says Stefan Strom. “This allows them to issue two job offers per year at no charge whatsoever. It’s really a win-win for everyone.”

About UtopiaBook

UtopiaBook is the world’s leading website for connecting professional creative talent and production companies, businesses and visual effects studios. The web application was designed by professional creative agents and recruiters who have served clients in over 38 countries. Based out of Stockholm, Sweden, UtopiaBook is the world’s largest database of creatives. Among their clients you will find international studios as well as smaller boutique shops.

Gratisversion NUKE

The Foundry has announced that they will release free, non-commercial and non-watermarked versions of their VFX software programmes NUKE, NUKEX, and NUKE STUDIO, designed for individuals interested in trying and learning more about their unique software.

NUKE STUDIO is well-renowned in the VFX world for its use as an all-in-one solution for modelling and editing all kind of projects, including animated films such as “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” and live action films such as Academy Award winner “Gravity”. The free version will include limited functionality in a number of fields, and restrictions are to be placed on how it can be used, with a limited use for “personal learning, personal projects, experimentation and research.”

Free users will also not receive the same kind of technical support from The Foundry, and there are instead plans for setting up a new community as a self-evolving source of help and guidance.

Milk vinner nya priser

Independent VFX house Milk has brought home another BAFTA award for their work on British science-fiction series Doctor Who – their second such an award in a row. The award acknowledges their work on the episode “Deep Breath”, on which they contributed with replacing half of actor Peter Ferdinando’s head with a mechanical structure, showing internal workings reminiscent of that of a clock.

“We are honoured to be recognised by the Academy for our work on Doctor Who for the second year in a row”, said Milk’s CEO Will Cohen. “For a company set to celebrate its second year in business at the beginning of June this is another fairytale ending to the year for Milk! It is a privilege to work with Stephen Moffat and the BBC Wales team on Doctor Who and provides us with an opportunity as VFX artists to help push the boundaries of what can be done visually on television.”

“Deep Breath” was Peter Capaldi’s debut episode as the Doctor, directed by Ben Wheatley. Milk were previously awarded for their VFX work on 2013’s Doctor Who episode “Day of the Doctor”.

83 New Channels

Channel Frederator Network has had a busy month in March, adding a total of 83 new channels to their network, including TomoNews, CoyoteMation, Mellaveli, Morph, and a number of others. The network has also continued to increase its steady hold of the online animation market by increasing its total number of channels to 1 603. Their monthly views have accumulated to a total of 255 million, with 20 million regular subscribers.

Next Media Animation’s TomoNews is one of the major players out of the new channels. It has quickly grown famous for its unique style of displaying top headlines from all around the world in an animated fashion, featuring both breaking stories and crazy, zany headlines from the Internet. Next Media Animations were founded in 2007, and have already become one of the largest and fastest growing 3D animation studios in Asia. TomoNews can be viewed on both Channel Frederator Network as well as on YouTube and in the App Store and Google Play.

“Channel Frederator Network is clearly a leader at curating top notch animated content and working with the channels in their network to help them garner as much audience share as possible”, said Michael Logan, Content Director at TomoNews. ”We are looking forward to being part of the Frederator family and working with them to introduce our programming to new viewers.”